AB 1743: California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program.

Existing law establishes the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program, administered by the State Department of Education, with the purpose of encouraging and maintaining the delivery of career technical education programs during implementation of the school district and charter school local control funding formula. Existing law appropriates specified amounts for the program from the General Fund for the 201516, 201617, and 201718 fiscal years, and provides minimum eligibility standards for grant applicants.

This bill would instead specify that the purpose of the program is to encourage and maintain the delivery of high-quality career technical education programs. The bill would specify that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, $500,000,000 shall be made available for the program to the department each year for the 201819 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, and would require a grant applicant to demonstrate a proportional dollar-for-dollar match for a grant award for those fiscal years. The bill would, among other things, add to the minimum eligibility standards that a grant applicant demonstrate that it provides opportunities for pupils to participate in leadership development opportunities and career and technical education student organizations, and provides opportunities for pupils who are individuals with exceptional needs to participate in all of the grant applicants programs. The bill would revise reporting requirements for program participants, and would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to evaluate and deem successful a grant recipients program as a condition of receiving a renewal grant.

Existing law requires the department and the State Board of Education to give positive consideration for specified characteristics when determining grant recipients, including that the applicant did not operate a career technical education program during the 201415 fiscal year.

This bill would eliminate the requirement that the department and state board give positive consideration to an applicant that did not operate a career technical education program during the 201415 fiscal year. The bill would require, instead of authorize, the Superintendent to take certain actions for purposes of administering the program, including that the Superintendent also determine, in collaboration with the executive director of the state board, the allocation formula, the purposes for which grant funds may be used, and allowable and nonallowable expenditures.

The bill would provide that, commencing with the 201819 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, $12,000,000 would be made available, upon appropriation, to the department to provide regional career technical education coordinators for the provision of technical assistance and support to local educational agencies in implementing career technical education courses, programs, and pathways. The bill would specify certain duties of the regional career technical education coordinators. The bill would further provide that the Superintendent would determine the distribution of funding for the provision of these regional career technical education coordinators on the basis of average daily attendance of the K12 public schools in a county.

The bill would require the Superintendent to evaluate the progress of the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program in achieving the goals of the program, and identify appropriate changes to the program no later than June 30, 2021, and no later than June 30 every 3 years thereafter. The bill would require the Superintendent to submit the progress report to the Legislature, the Department of Finance, and the Governor, as specified.